Convent of Santa Croce in Sellano

History of the Convent of Santa Croce

The Benedictines settled in the Sellano area at an unknown date and built the monasteries of San Nicola di Acqua Premuta, San Pietro in Tutorio and Santa Croce di Sterpare. The Sterpare monastery may originally have depended on the Benedictine Abbazia di Sant'Eutizio.

Tradition says that some monks of Tuscan origin taught the inhabitants how to work iron and temper files and rasps, to give an income to a population in deep poverty. According to the legend, the friars later repented. They feared that the people of Sellano, having learned the trade, would drift away from the faith, and they cursed anyone who earned from the work more than was needed to live.

Surviving records are plentiful from the 18th century onward. Some clues point to older origins for the craft tradition: from 1519 a blacksmith named mastro Petruccio di Ranaldo da Sellano appears in the records of the church of Santa Maria Maggiore in Spello.

What to see at the Convent of Santa Croce

No intact structures of the building remain. Only remains of walls can be seen in the woods, what is left of the old Benedictine monastery. The value of the place lies above all in its history and its link with the rasp-making tradition.

Where the Convent of Santa Croce is located

The ruins are in the locality of Sterpare, in the municipality of Sellano, in the province of Perugia, in Umbria.

Around the Convent of Santa Croce in Sellano

In Sterpare, the church of the Madonna delle Grazie holds a 13th-century wooden sculpture of the Madonna and Child.

The Sellano area includes Villamagina, a locality known for its production of files and rasps. The activity is documented since the 18th century. Sellano also has a museum that collects documents, images, objects and accounts of this craft tradition.